Chris Polk Undrafted?

[wicket]

biggest surpise of the draft?

[Caddy]

I like him A LOT undrafted. Obviously lots of speculation about injury concerns, but a team could run him into the ground over two or three seasons and get some solid production.

[Bixby (Thumper)]

The NFL is funny. Chris Polk has degenerative shoulders and hip, stuff that will cause him problems later in life. Fact of the matter is that these things didn't stop Polk from playing on Saturdays and they won't stop him from playing on Sundays either. Its not like this guy tore his ACL or ruptured his achilles, he able to play day one.

And of all the teams to get him, I'm thrilled it was mine. I love the way he plays, he busts his ass and he runs hard as hell. He's not super flashy or talented but he tries hard, has good vision and takes care of the ball. Not superstar but he's good. I think he's a rich man's Kevin Smith and thats a real good pick up in UDFA if you ask me. Thrilled to have him.

[descendency]

Degenerative knee, shoulder, ankle, etc conditions will always get you to go undrafted unless you are a very elite player. Shelf life on those guys tends to be the length of one's rookie contract.

[Caddy]

Originally Posted by descendency

Degenerative knee, shoulder, ankle, etc conditions will always get you to go undrafted unless you are a very elite player. Shelf life on those guys tends to be the length of one's rookie contract.

Even if that is true it's a steal. If I was the Eagles I'd be very happy to give Polk a roster spot and use him when McCoy needs a rest/doesn't need to be risked in the game.

[WCH]

Originally Posted by descendency

Degenerative knee, shoulder, ankle, etc conditions will always get you to go undrafted unless you are a very elite player. Shelf life on those guys tends to be the length of one's rookie contract.

Andrew Brandt recently said that this was the question that they would always ask the medical staff: "Will he make it through his rookie contract."

[Scott Wright]

As always when a prospect falls so much further than expected it's usually medical.

With that said, Polk was only a borderline Day 2 / Day 3 pick anyway.

[Asteinebach]

Originally Posted by Scott Wright

As always when a prospect falls so much further than expected it's usually medical.

With that said, Polk was only a borderline Day 2 / Day 3 pick anyway.

I liked what you guys talked about prior to the draft. He's kinda a jack of all trades and a master of none. He's an every down back, but he's got those injury concerns and he isn't dominate in any one aspect of the game.

[Scott Wright]

Originally Posted by Asteinebach

I liked what you guys talked about prior to the draft. He's kinda a jack of all trades and a master of none. He's an every down back, but he's got those injury concerns and he isn't dominate in any one aspect of the game.

As Shane can attest, I was calling Polk a "Meat & Potatoes" type back in January.

[Monomach]

Originally Posted by Scott Wright

As always when a prospect falls so much further than expected it's usually medical.

With that said, Polk was only a borderline Day 2 / Day 3 pick anyway.

This guy named Scott Wright disagrees with you. He gave Polk a grade of round 2-3, which is not particularly close to the border between day two and day three.

[Babylon]

I get the health issues knocking a guy down but then he gets signed right away in free agency. The guy has always been a special player to me. Had great success running and catching the ball behind a suspect UW line. Sometimes i dont get the whole process even when people try to explain it to me.

[SuperPacker]

Round 3 is day 2. Round 4 is day 3. I'd say giving him a round 2-3 grade, makes him a day 3 or 4 prospect.

[Shane P. Hallam]

Originally Posted by Monomach

This guy named Scott Wright disagrees with you. He gave Polk a grade of round 2-3, which is not particularly close to the border between day two and day three.

Pretty sure Round 3 is on the border of days 2 and 3. And Scott has said on the Podcast before (see our Draft surprises show,) that Polk could fall to the 4th

[Monomach]

Originally Posted by SuperPacker

Round 3 is day 2. Round 4 is day 3. I'd say giving him a round 2-3 grade, makes him a day 3 or 4 prospect.

Borderline between days 2-3 would be a mid-round prospect. Round 2-3 is all solidly in day two.

He does this stuff every year, but usually he waits longer than the day after the draft. I understand it's human nature...after all, every time we have a "rank your top 10 QB prospects ever" type of thread around here, no one ever lists a bust (no matter how hard they pushed Jamarcus in the past). Incredible that they haven't been hired as QB evaluators yet.

All he had to say was "yeah, guy has round two-three talent, but none of us knew about his medical conditions before the draft. Sucks for Polk."

Reminds me of a thread where he said that Marvin Austin was a huge steal in round two and that Stephen Paea was properly valued a pick later. He had Paea ranked above Austin a day earlier.

I love the guy and his website, but sometimes he doesn't hold himself to a high enough standard.

[jballa838]

To be fair, none of us saw any X-Rays of the shoulder or knee. It sucks, he's one of my favorite Huskies ever, but he fell because of health and it was almost a snowball effect, where it went from "you can't risk a 3rd rounder on a guy who you might only get 2 years out of" to "maybe someone else's doctors saw it differently, and that's why he's still on the board" and even though his knees are fine (the shoulder is an entirely different story. with how he runs, he's not getting a full career out of it, but definitely is something that wouldn't scare me away from a 4-7 round pick) every team continually passing on him is going to cause teams to keep passing (See: Bush, Michael and his fall from 1st round talent to 1st pick of day 2 because of knee concerns) and going with safer prospects.

My real question is with all the #s on shelf life of RB's and how interchangeable they are, why on earth would you not take a flier on this guy, someone who played hurt before, who has proven that--if needed--they can take 30+ carries a week and not break down (neither of his injuries were the result of 'seasonal wear and tear') and give you 100% on every one of those carries.

Maybe I am biased because this guy was so loyal as a Husky, but at the same time I'm not talking about any other Dawg but him. He may never run for 1,000 yards in a season, but he's going to make it through Eagles camp and could potentially have value as a kick returner (don't watch the BYU return two years ago though, he can't field kicks at times) and guy who can come in any down and fill in, while bringing another facet and wrinkle into the Eagles offense.

[asdf1223]

Guys like Bryce Brown who completely quit on football get drafted while guys who Polk go undrafted. I wish I understood NFL GMs sometimes.

[PossibleCabbage]

Originally Posted by Monomach

Borderline between days 2-3 would be a mid-round prospect. Round 2-3 is all solidly in day two.

In Scott's defense, the draftnik consensus pretty much seemed to be that Polk was a third or fourth round prospect at RB who would only be pushed up due to a run at the position or a team that falls in love with him.

"Borderline day day 2/3 pick" is pretty much apt. It's not like teams were passing on a guy with huge upside due to medical.

[Master Exploder]

Originally Posted by asdf1223

Guys like Bryce Brown who completely quit on football get drafted while guys who Polk go undrafted. I wish I understood NFL GMs sometimes.

To be fair, Bryce Brown had the look of becoming an elite RB his freshman year at Tennessee and he hasn't had much wear and tear. He's also 6'0 223 lbs. and ran a 4.37 and put up other great numbers, so I can see why he'd be a "hot" prospect to take a flier on over a player like Chris Polk with durability concerns. RB is an easy position and if you can get a player like Bryce Brown with little investment, I think it's potentially worth the risk.

[LonghornsLegend]

Eagles did an amazing job the entire off-season. I think they will end up with a find out of either Polk or Bryce Brown. Considering neither will be asked to do very much, and the abundance of weapons on the team, it's a good landing spot for a bigger RB to ease the load off McCoy.


If I'm getting an UDFA I really don't care about the shelf life. I was hoping the Cowboys gave him a look. Also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get cut either, I doubt they keep 4 RB's.

[Shane P. Hallam]

Originally Posted by LonghornsLegend

Eagles did an amazing job the entire off-season. I think they will end up with a find out of either Polk or Bryce Brown. Considering neither will be asked to do very much, and the abundance of weapons on the team, it's a good landing spot for a bigger RB to ease the load off McCoy.


If I'm getting an UDFA I really don't care about the shelf life. I was hoping the Cowboys gave him a look. Also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get cut either, I doubt they keep 4 RB's.

The double negative messing me up a bit, but I imagine he competes with Bryce Brown for the final spot.

[NorrinRadd12]

He was fortunate to even be signed as an UDFA. Nothing in his skill set translates to the NFL. He doesn't have a RB body, he runs completely upright, average speed, poor agility and no power.

[Babylon]

Originally Posted by NorrinRadd12

He was fortunate to even be signed as an UDFA. Nothing in his skill set translates to the NFL. He doesn't have a RB body, he runs completely upright, average speed, poor agility and no power.

Except that he ran a mid 4.4 at his pro day, wont go down from the first hit and has great hands i'd tend to agree with you.